The Suit I Sport

If someone were to give me the choice of removing one flaw, multiple flaws or no flaws what would I choose? Is my definition of a “flaw” the same or different as the person sitting next to me? Spiderman by Jim Hall really got me thinking about all of these questions. I definitely know what my biggest “weakness” is, but is it necessarily a flaw?

If I could change something about myself it would be the fact that I hold grudges like none other. I absolutely hate this about myself! Whether someone did something small or something huge I will never ever forget it. And even if I “forgive” a person or “forget about it,” there’s always something in the back of my mind that is reminded of what happened and can’t let it go. That is the phrase that my friends always tell me that I need to do. “Let go.” I understand what my friends are trying to make me do by stating this seemingly simple sentence – they want me to move on and get over whatever has happened to me. They want me to pretend like it never happened and they want me to live life happily acting like I was never hurt or even cared.

But I have a problem…I just can’t do that! If someone hurts me badly the pain can’t just go away and even if I try to “let go” and forget about it the pain and hurt is still there. So what can I do?

Too many times in my life have I wished that I could “let go” and pretend like something didn’t affect me at all. Unfortunately, I also wear my heart on my sleeve so whatever emotion I am feeling deep down on the inside, everyone around me knows because I wear the exact same emotion on the outside of me.

I know the reason why I hold these grudges is because when I really care about people I go all out and I really care about them. I try my absolute hardest to go all out and cater to their needs and make sure that I’m a good friend. Therefore, whenever I am betrayed by someone I get super offended and upset because in my head I don’t feel like I would’ve done the same thing to them.

That, by no means whatsoever, means that I am the perfect child. I have definitely made my fair share of mistakes in my life far too many times. I have personally benefited from my friends not holding as big of grudges I do or else I’m not even sure if I would be friends with some of the people I’m friends with today.

So this must make me a hypocrite…I act one way and expect something different from others. I have tried my hardest to act differently, but at the end of the day I’m all right with the fact that I hold grudges. It is a part of who I am as a person and I can’t do anything about it. I just have to learn from both my own and other people’s mistakes and hopefully in the future they won’t happen again.

If someone were to ask me what would I do if I could have my “fwame wesistent” suit be different than it is now I’m not even sure if I’d change it now. I have always been this way so I am pretty used to it. Also, if I were to get rid of it, would that take the caring part of my personality away? I wouldn’t want that. So maybe I would change my suit and instead make myself more compassionate and understanding when people make mistakes…that way I could build on the caring aspect of the suit I already have on. (639)

Modern-Day Situation

            In Antigone, Creon states that the well-being (both the safety and security) of the state comes before the rights of the individual. This is why he is able to have Antigone ordered to death for speaking out against the law. Antigone buried her brother when Creon clearly stated that he was not to be buried in order to be an example to others on what would happen if they betrayed their country. Creon believes that he can violate her rights if it puts his country out of danger.

            Even though this play was written over 2,400 years ago this position is still debated about today in modern times. Recently, because of the acts of terrorism, many people’s rights have been violated. For example, at security checkpoints people must have their belongings checked and they have to surrender their rights at the airport. People’s calls can be wired and the government is allowed to listen to them if they would like or find something suspicious. The government is also allowed to check suspicious mail and can open it if they want to. Nowadays, the government knows more about you than ever. 

            People are outraged by this because they don’t feel like the government should be violating their rights and that we should be able to have our privacy. There are other governments in the world who openly violate people’s rights without reason, but these are often communists and are not a democracy, like the US is. However on the other hand, many argue that our government is not violating people’s rights, but instead is keeping us safe. They believe that our country is the most important and they would rather be safe as opposed to not having the government know anything about everything therefore making us more vulnerable to another terrorist or another kind of attack.

This is not the only time people’s rights have been violated due to a war. During the 1940s during World War II a vast majority of people were afraid of the Japanese and therefore the government took action and put Japanese people (even if they were only half or a quarter) into internment camps. This was an obvious violation of rights because people were forced to separate from their homes, neighborhoods, friends, etc. They were also forced to do manual labor and be isolated and discriminated against. Also, more recently the issue of torture has been brought up because of Guantamo Bay (where terrorists are held without trials).

             So these days the question is…is it really right to violate people’s rights in order to protect the safety and security of a state or country? Are there different measures of violating people’s rights? Does it really matter if the government goes through our belongings, listens to our phone calls, or goes through our mail? Because if we have nothing to hide, what is everyone afraid of? If there are people in the world who are trying to destroy my country then I openly believe that our government is allowed to go through our property. If there is nothing for us to hide why should it matter? I personally would rather be safe with some violations of my privacy taken away (I’m used to this since I live with my parents…) rather than being dead or harmed with none of my private property being touched or messed with. (561)